Previously, you could consolidate your spouse's federal student loans with your federal student loans. The goal was to save money through lower monthly payments.
The federal government provided married borrowers joint consolidation from 1992 to 2006. Since that program ended on July 1, 2006, the only option remaining is refinancing with a private lender.
However, programs for joint consolidation through private lenders are sparse and companies that previously offered this option, like PenFed Credit Union, no longer provide it.
If you were thinking of consolidating student loans with your spouse to lower your payments, here are other options to consider instead.
Revisit your student loan repayment options
There are four federal student loan repayment options available: Standard Repayment, Graduated Repayment, Extended Repayment and Income-Driven Repayment (IDR).
You will automatically be enrolled in the Standard Repayment Plan upon leaving school, unless you opt for a different plan. The Standard Plan provides a fixed repayment amount to ensure your loan is paid back in 10 years.
If you let the Standard Repayment Plan kick in after you left school, now is a good time to revisit your options and see if a different plan could lower your payments or speed up repayment time through loan forgiveness.
For example, out of all the plans, the newest IDR option Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan provides most borrowers with the lowest payments because they are based on a smaller portion of your adjusted gross income
» MORE: Student loan repayment options: find the best plan for you
Utilize federal loan forgiveness programs
Under certain circ*mstances, some federal student loans may be forgiven, which means you won’t have to pay the money back. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is the most common program for loan forgiveness, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Other options include IDR plans, school-related discharge, teacher loan forgiveness and total and permanent disability discharge.
If you’re seeking loan forgiveness, be wary of scams, which are prolific in the student loan debt industry. Nearly half a million accounts of fraud were reported by the Federal Trade Commission in the first quarter of 2023 alone.
Some debt relief companies may claim they can eliminate your debt but upfront fees can be costly and they rarely deliver on the promised relief advertised.
The only way to get your student loan forgiven is to go through legitimate federal government programs, which have no cost to you to apply.
» MORE: 10+ student loan forgiveness programs that discharge loans
Consolidate your loans separately
While you can’t consolidate your loans jointly with your spouse, you can still consolidate your loans individually.
Consolidating your student loans enables you to combine multiple federal loans into one new loan with the goal of lowering your monthly payment and creating eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness programs, like IDR plans and PSLF.
It is important to check your current repayment plan and ensure you won’t be losing helpful benefits through consolidation, as well as research current offerings by the Department of Education.
For instance, if you have a Perkins loan but are employed in a profession that qualifies you for Perkins loan forgiveness – like a teacher, first responder or health care worker – it may not make sense to include your Perkins loan in consolidation, as you would lose the forgiveness benefits.
» MORE: How to get forgiveness for your Perkins loan
Refinance your loans separately
Refinancing student loans can help you save money on higher-interest private, federal and graduate school loans.
For example, by refinancing a $60,000 loan from 7% interest to 5%, you’d save roughly $7,200 over a 10-year term.
Though refinancing federal student loans could lower your monthly payments, you'll forfeit important perks like access to Income-Driven Repayment programs that can also lower payments, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a one-time IDR account adjustment that could forgive debt entirely for longtime borrowers — and much more.
Once you refinance loans, you can’t get your original loans back. If you want or need federal loan benefits, like alternate repayment plans and forgiveness programs, don’t refinance them.
» MORE: What happens to student loans when you get married?
Co-sign your spouse’s loan
Another option for lowering monthly student loan payments is to co-sign with a spouse when refinancing. If your spouse’s credit is favorable, you may gain access to better interest rates or vice versa.
However, there are cons to consider if you go the co-signer route; the most significant being that you’re equally responsible for repaying the balance — even after a divorce.
For example, a divorce decree could outline who’s responsible for repayment, but both names remain legally on the debt. That means if one spouse doesn’t pay, the other still suffers the consequences of missed payments, like damaged credit and collection calls.
Divorcees could refinance the loan or portions of it into their individual names to get around this, but only by meeting a lender’s income and credit qualifications on their own.
» MORE: Student loans in divorce: What happens to the debt?
